Michigan legislation would limit Freedom of Information Act costs for public

By MEGAN SEMERAZ

Sunday, June 30, 2013

When Oakland Township resident Marc Edwards was curious to know what official business his township officials were discussing via email, he decided to send a Freedom of Information Act request to the township to obtain documentation.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA, commonly called "FOY-ah"), was created to give the public access to government and public records, but potentially high costs for obtaining the information can cause financial burdens for some and restrict access to public information.

For Edwards, that cost was nearly $2,500 for two FOIA requests. The documents, which were requested in digital format, were 25 cents per page from the township, plus labor.

"Prior to that, I paid $160 for three of the trustees' outgoing emails," Edwards said. "Now my attorney said it could take up to $10,000 to take (any issues) to court, with all the attorney costs (and FOIA requests)."

Edwards also got them in printed copies -- 8,918 of them, which cost $2,229.50. He had to recruit several volunteers to help sift through the hundreds of documents.

In addition to paying printing costs in most cases, FOIA also allows government bodies to charge for labor at the hourly wage of the lowest paid township employee capable of retrieving the information.

The email requests Edwards sent for had one labor charge of 9.5 hours at $15.75 -- totaling $149.63. The second labor charge was for 4.75 hours at $23.32 an hour -- totaling $110.77.

The grand total was $2,489.50, with a 5 percent township voluntary reduction of $124.50.

Edwards said his attorney has told him he likely will be reimbursed for the FOIA costs if he goes to court with the documents, but he thinks there's a good possibility he will never see the money again.

But because he is into the FOIA requests on such a deep level, he says he needs to continue what he's doing.

The Oakland Press also recently requested several documents from Oakland University. The personnel file for recently fired women's basketball coach Beckie Francis cost a total of $35.84.

Oakland University charged for .25 hours at 59.63 per hour and half an hour at $41.88 per hour of work.

Some want to restrict what can be charged.

Michigan House Bill 4001 would amend the Michigan Freedom of Information Act of 1976 PA 442 by limiting costs per page to 10 cents. The bill also states that a person would not be charged for on-sight inspection, unless the requester asks the public body for the copies and/or to use their equipment.

The bill also targets public bodies that do not respond to FOIA request deadlines, or delays the response. The fee in those circumstances has increased from $500 to $5,000. An extension of 10 days would be accepted, but if the government entity went past that, the cost of the FOIA would drop 20 percent each day.

State Rep. Tom McMillin, a Republican from Rochester Hills, helped introduce Michigan House Bill 4314, which would create an open government commission of nine appointed people from different bodies, appointed by the governor.

That body would look at citizen complaints related to FOIA.

McMillin spoke about the issue last year at a meeting in Rochester Hills, saying municipalities are charging sometimes 30 or 40 cents per page. He supports stronger FOIA laws to make obtaining information easier.

The Village of Clarkston is working to finalize its FOIA policy because it is beginning to charge for service. No final fee has been determined, and it likely will be on an upcoming agenda, according to the clerk's office.

In Rochester Hills, a representative in the clerk's office said fees vary by what kind of information someone is looking for. The policy allows individuals to look at the documents in the office.

If individuals want to make copies, they will be charged 25 cents for first page, and 30 cents for each additional page.

The cost for records straight from Oakland County also vary in cost. If a document is easy to find, it is usually 3 cents per page, according to the county. At the Oakland County Circuit Court, however, court documents cost $1 per page.